Did you understand how Virtual Game Cards works? Nintendo revealed the new feature yesterday in the latest Nintendo Direct, but some fans thought that Nintendo was taking something away instead of adding functionality for Nintendo Switch players. But it may be that Nintendo’s explanation was a little confusing, because they haven’t told us the whole story yet.
As shared on the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit by user m1n3c7afty, Nintendo’s website that explains Virtual Game Cards has this text at the bottom of the page:
“Compatible systems must be linked to a Nintendo Account to use virtual game cards. Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games can only be loaded on a Nintendo Switch 2 system. To move virtual game cards between two systems, you must pair the systems via local wireless and an internet connection, but only when pairing the systems for the first time. Up to two systems total can be linked per Nintendo Account.”
So, just to untangle this for a minute, Virtual Game Cards will be available on both the Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2. That suggests that it’s also related to Nintendo Switch backwards compatibility on the Switch 2. However, we’re now told that there are Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games, and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games.
And so, the question arises, what are Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games?
As we saw in that subreddit, a lot of fans have jumped to the conclusion that this must be some kind of upgrade path for Switch games to get enhanced editions on the Switch 2. But even then, there’s a lot of speculation because of the missing information.
Some users believe that it simply indicates that there are games on the Switch 2 that won’t run on the original Switch, and Nintendo isn’t suggesting there is any upgrade path at all. They compare it to how PlayStation 4 games work on the PlayStation 5.
There are also some users who believe that Nintendo will offer special versions of Switch games on Switch 2. Subsequently, they think Nintendo will charge for those upgraded versions of those games.
But we do want to point out here that that notion contrasts information and speculation that fans gathered from datamining the Nintendo Switch’s shipping data. If those claims are to be believed, the Switch 2 will simply have upgraded hardware compared to the Switch. In other words, it should be able to run Switch games better than on the original Switch, without any additional programming or going out of their way to remaster games.
For what it’s worth, we suspect that many third-party developers will choose to make new Switch 2 versions of games that didn’t run that well on the Switch, such as Ninja Gaiden Black 2 & 3 or Darksiders 3. It would simply be impractical to force those older versions to run better, when a new version of those games will be better optimized. Maybe those developers will offer a cheap upgrade path for existing owners, but that would be on them.
Thankfully, this won’t be a mystery for that much longer, as the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct is coming as soon as next week.
